JPH11167912A - Battery pack - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate welding failures caused by the displacement of a connecting plate generating, when a square cap-shaped terminal and a connecting plate are welded, in the case where a plurality of square batteries are stacked in the thickness direction and connected electrically. SOLUTION: A plurality of rectangular batteries in which either one terminal part of positive either negative electrodes is constituted with a square terminal cap 2 projected outward are stacked in the thickness direction, positive and negative terminal parts are arranged alternately, and the terminal parts are connected electrically in series with a connecting plate 4. The connecting plate 4 has an almost U-shaped rib 6 fit to the square terminal cap 2 of a battery 1, and the square terminal cap 2 of the battery 1 and the connecting plate flat surface near the rib 6 fit to it are welded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery pack in which a plurality of prismatic batteries are electrically connected in series.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, cordless devices such as mobile phones and handy terminals have become widespread. Are used in series. As the type of battery, a battery that can be charged and discharged, such as a nickel-cadmium storage battery, a nickel-hydrogen storage battery, and a lithium secondary battery, is mainly used.

[0003] However, unlike a cylindrical battery, a rectangular battery having excellent volume efficiency has a close distance between terminals and a connection plate smaller than that used for a cylindrical battery. Positioning at the time of welding with the connection plate was very difficult.

In this method, a connection plate is held by a jig or a fingertip to adjust a positional relationship with a square cap-shaped terminal.
Since the connection plate is small, it is difficult to maintain its reliable positioning, and the workability of spot welding is significantly deteriorated.It is said that the connection plate is displaced and welding failure or the connection plate is displaced from the fingertip to cause a short circuit between batteries. Had issues.

Therefore, the present inventors have filed Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 8-1067.
In No. 16, as shown in FIG. 4, opposed ribs 10 which can be fitted to the cap-shaped terminals 2 of the battery are formed at one end of the connection plate 9 by bending, and the ribs 10 are connected to the terminal cap 2. It has been proposed to position the plate 9 and securely weld the cap-shaped terminal 2 and the flat portion 11 of the connection plate 9.

[0006]

However, in the above configuration, in order to position the connection plate and the square cap-shaped terminal, opposed ribs provided on the connection plate are connected to the square cap-shaped terminal. By mating, it was possible to keep the connection plate from moving in its width direction,
Since the connection plate slides without being restrained in its length direction, it is necessary to hold the connection plate with a fingertip or a jig. However, since the connection plate is small, the finger is moved slightly, or the jig is shaken by vibration, and the connection plate is displaced in its length direction, resulting in poor welding due to the displacement. was there.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem of poor welding, a battery pack according to the present invention has a positive or negative terminal portion formed of a square cap-like terminal projecting outward. A plurality of prismatic batteries, and a connecting plate for stacking the plurality of batteries in the thickness direction and alternately arranging positive and negative terminal portions to electrically connect the terminals electrically in series. The plate has a substantially U-shaped rib fitted at one end to the square cap-shaped terminal, and the cap-shaped terminal is welded to the connection plate plane near the rib fitted to the cap-shaped terminal.

[0008] With this configuration, when the terminals of a plurality of prismatic batteries are electrically connected in series, even when the connection plate is welded to the rectangular cap-shaped terminal, the position of the connection plate can be reliably defined. It is possible to eliminate welding defects due to misalignment during spot welding.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
One of the positive and negative terminals is a plurality of prismatic batteries composed of rectangular cap-shaped terminals protruding outward. Are arranged alternately and electrically connect the terminals electrically in series, the connection plate having a substantially U-shaped rib fitted to the square cap-shaped terminal at one end, A battery pack is obtained by welding a cap-shaped terminal and a flat portion of a connection plate near a rib fitted to the terminal.

Since the connection plate is provided with a substantially U-shaped rib at one end, when this is fitted to the square cap-shaped terminal of the battery, the connection plate is positioned in both the width direction and the length direction. The position of the connecting plate can be reliably defined without deviation, and welding defects due to positional deviation during spot welding can be eliminated. Furthermore, when the connection plate is fitted to the cap-shaped terminal, it is not necessary to hold the state with a fingertip,
The time required for welding positioning can be greatly reduced.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a rectangular nickel-hydrogen storage battery 1 having a width of 17 mm, a thickness of 6 mm and a total height of 48 mm (nominal capacity of 6 mm).
00mAh). In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a square positive terminal cap, and reference numeral 3 denotes a stainless steel battery case which also serves as a negative terminal.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connection plate 4 made of nickel. In the figure, 5 is a flat portion of the connection plate, 6 is a substantially U-shaped rib provided at one end of the connection plate, and 7 is a cutout provided at one end of the connection plate along its length direction. . The connection plate 4 is designed so as to press and fit the substantially U-shaped rib 6 into the terminal cap 2, and at this time, the notch 7 is slightly opened to assist the fitting. The notch 7 also has an effect of preventing a reactive current flowing during welding on the surface of the connection plate when spot welding the flat portion 5 of the connection plate 4 and the terminal cap 2.

FIG. 3 shows a prismatic nickel-hydrogen storage battery
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the battery pack of the present invention, which is stacked in the thickness direction and electrically connected in series. In the figure, 1 is a first rectangular nickel-hydrogen storage battery, 2 is a rectangular positive terminal cap, and a substantially U-shaped rib 6 provided at one end of the connection plate 4 is fitted thereto. The flat part 5 of the connection plate 4 is spot-welded to the terminal cap 2. 3 in the figure is the second
The other end 8 of the connection plate 4 is spot-welded to the battery case also serving as the negative terminal of the battery.

As described above, since the connection plate 4 is provided with the substantially U-shaped rib 6 at one end thereof, the connection plate 4 is fitted in the rectangular cap-shaped terminal of the battery so that the connection plate is moved in the width direction. Therefore, the position of the connecting plate can be reliably defined without displacement in the longitudinal direction. For this reason, the connection plate 4
When the flat portion 5 is spot-welded to the square terminal cap 2, it is possible to eliminate welding defects due to misalignment. Further, even if the connection plate 4 is not held by a fingertip during spot welding, the connection plate 4
Are fitted and no displacement occurs, so that the working time required for positioning during welding can be greatly reduced.

In the above embodiment, the notch 7 is provided at one end of the connection plate 4 to reduce the reactive current flowing on the surface of the connection plate 4 when the connection plate 4 and the terminal cap 2 are spot-welded. For the same reason, a cutout may be provided along the length direction at the center of the width of the other end 8 of the connection plate 4.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the connection plate 4 made of nickel is used. However, the material of the connection plate may be stainless steel or stainless steel whose surface is plated with nickel.

[0018]

As described above, according to the battery pack of the present invention, a plurality of rectangular batteries each having one of the positive and negative terminal portions formed of a rectangular cap-shaped terminal projecting outward, The battery includes a connection plate that overlaps the batteries in the thickness direction and alternately arranges positive and negative terminal portions to electrically connect the terminals in series, and the connection plate is substantially fitted to the square cap-shaped terminal. A U-shaped rib is provided at one end, and the cap-shaped terminal is welded to the connection plate plane near the rib fitted to the cap-shaped terminal, so that the position of the connection plate with respect to the cap-shaped terminal is reliably defined. And welding defects due to displacement during spot welding can be eliminated. Furthermore, since there is no displacement of the connection plate, the work time required for positioning when the connection plate is spot-welded to the square cap-shaped terminal can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a square nickel-hydrogen storage battery according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connection plate.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the battery pack.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional battery pack.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nickel-hydrogen storage battery 2 Positive terminal cap 3 Battery case also serving as a negative terminal 4 Connection plate 5 Flat part 6 Substantially U-shaped rib 7 Notch 8 Other end part 9 Conventional connection plate 10 Rib 11 Flat part

Claims (3)

[Claims] A positive or negative terminal portion comprises a plurality of prismatic batteries each comprising a rectangular cap-shaped terminal protruding outward, and a plurality of such batteries stacked in the thickness direction and positively and negatively connected. A connection plate for alternately arranging negative terminal portions and electrically connecting the terminals in series, the connection plate having a substantially U-shaped rib fitted at one end to the square cap-shaped terminal; A battery pack provided with the cap-shaped terminal and a connection plate flat near the rib fitted to the cap-shaped terminal. 2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein one end of the connection plate provided with a substantially U-shaped rib is provided with a notch along a length direction at a central portion of the width thereof. 3. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the connection plate are provided with cuts along the length direction at the center of the width.